Obama administration prepares sanctions, retaliation for Russian election meddling
Story highlights
- The Obama administration is planning retaliatory measures for Russian election meddling
- Russia responds: 'Action against Russian diplomatic missions in the US will immediately bounce back'
(CNN)The
Obama administration is preparing to announce, as soon as Thursday, a
series of retaliation measures against Russia for meddling in the US
election, according to American officials briefed on the plans.
The
actions are expected to include expanded sanctions and diplomatic
measures, the officials said, in what the administration deems a
proportional response to a Russian operation that went beyond cyber
hacking activities common among nations.
Russia
will respond to any "hostile steps" that the US may take in response to
allegations of hacking during the 2016 election, according to the
official representative for the ministry.
Some
of the steps are expected to name individuals associated with a Russian
disinformation campaign that US intelligence officials say used hacked
information from mostly Democratic Party organizations and officials to
attack the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.
Official
representative for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria
Zakharova, said in a statement on the ministry's website, "If Washington
really does take new hostile steps, they will be answered ... any
action against Russian diplomatic missions in the US will immediately
bounce back on US diplomats in Russia."
She
went on to say of the hacking, "frankly, we are tired about the lies
about Russian hackers -- it's misinformation by Obama administration
aimed at providing an excuse for its own failure."
US
officials have also said the federal government plans some unannounced
actions taken through covert means at a time of its choosing.
The
retaliatory measures are separate from an intelligence report President
Barack Obama ordered on foreign hacking of US election entities. That
report expected in early January will include declassified intelligence
information on cyber hacks by China in 2008 and 2012, as well as the
hacking and disinformation activities by Russian intelligence agencies
in the 2016 campaign, the officials said.
The
administration's announcement comes after months of internal debate
over how to respond to Russian cyber activity that US law enforcement
and intelligence agencies have watched take place for over a year.
In
recent months, Obama administration officials focused on protecting
voting machines and preventing hackers from affecting the balloting.
Officials were relieved when the November 8 elections were completed
without tampering of votes.
But the damage had already been done.
US
intelligence officials believe that the Russian efforts were intended
to hurt Clinton's campaign. At a minimum the Russians expected the
operation to sow confusion into the US elections. Then as they saw it
having some success, the Russian intelligence agencies redoubled their
efforts by funneling releases of hacked information to sites such as
WikiLeaks and DCLeaks, intelligence officials believe.
Leo
Taddeo, a former FBI senior cyber official and now chief security
officer for Cryptzone, says the hacks were only part of the story.
"Cyber was the tool to use in the disinformation war," he says. "The overarching campaign is the information war."
Another
US official briefed on the American government response says Obama
administration officials failed to see what the Russian goal was.
"Failure of imagination is a problem that affects every part of the US
government," the official told CNN.
Obama
administration officials have come under attack from Democrats since
the election for not sooner taking public action against the Russians.
Administration
officials have said any delays have been in order to allow intelligence
and law enforcement agencies to do their work. There were also
sensitivities about protecting US classified sources and methods on
cyber activities.
And at least one
reason for not taking more public action, as CNN first reported, was
that White House officials didn't want to appear to be favoring the
Democratic presidential nominee's campaign. They assumed Clinton would
win the election, and there was concern that Donald Trump -- already
making claims of a rigged election -- would use any Obama administration
actions to bolster his claims.
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